Notte Bianca

Well, this might have been the strangest event I've ever witnessed. Notte Bianca, or the White Night, is the night before Italy's labor day holiday, held on the last night in April.

The official logo of Notte Bianca 2013

Many of the shops are open all night long, restaurants and cafés, clubs and pubs, not to mention stages set up in every piazza where musicians and DJs are performing all night long. I went out to eat with some of my Italian friends before we went to explore the town. We went to the American Diner, which is a favorite among the Italians here! It's funny, for being an American diner, it's pretty healthy compared to real American food ;) I spent much of the night talking to a girl named Mimi who knew very little English. I was speaking in Italian and she in English in attempts to communicate. It was a lot of fun! There were a lot of bursts of laughter and crazy arm gestures to try to explain to each other what we were trying to say, we must have sounded like three year olds in our speech, but it was perfect for both of us to practice!

Notte Bianca this year had a bird theme!!! Which was perfect for me!! It appears every year they have giant parade balloons featuring the year's theme just outside Santa Croce. They were rather creepy if I may say so.

I didn't get many shots as I only had my phone with me, though there had also been another balloon, in the style of one of Da Vinci's flying machines where someone was actually riding in it! In the Republica, there were huge banners which people were spraypainting on featuring some DJ-ing parrots! We didn't stay out long after dinner for it was starting to get messy... The streets were not only packed full (think of Minnesota's state fair) but the sidewalks were littered with beer cans and bottles and overall was not a pretty sight. I don't think I've seen Florence that disgusting before and it was a rather sad thing to witness; hopefully it'll be cleaned up soon!